

This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 5, 2022 • 1h 7min
Elizabeth Holmes is guilty, Amazon wins over socialists, Biden sanctions China | E1352
Jason and Molly cover Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes guilty verdict (1:47), how even socialists have admitted that Amazon is the best place many people have ever worked (40:08). To wrap they dig into Biden’s new sanctions against China the implications from decoupling our economies (56:16).
(00:00) Jason intros the show
(01:47) Elizabeth Holmes Theranos fraud trial verdict
(09:36) Vanta - Get get $1,000 off automating your SOC 2 at vanta.com/twist
(10:53) How VCs vet charlatan founders
(17:33) Female CEOs in tech
(21:12) Masterworks - Skip the waitlist to invest in art using promo code TWIST at Masterworks.io/twist
(22:25) Are Female founders held to a higher standard by the media?
(31:17) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at ourcrowd.com/twist
(32:34) Funny Holmes impressions
(40:08) Socialist podcast "This Machine Kills" admits Amazon has been the best place many people have worked
(56:16) President Biden's sanctions on China and the impact on tech
FOLLOW Jason: linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: twitter.com/mollywood

Jan 4, 2022 • 1h 8min
How JOKR lost $159 per order, rising startup valuations, OpenSea freezes stolen NFTs, Web 2 CEOs troll Web 3 | E1351
Jason and Molly cover how QuickCommerce startup JOKR lost $159 per order in the US in August (1:54), the state of startup valuations (25:57), Jason's case of COVID & the state of testing (32:00), OpenSea freezing over $2M worth of stolen NFTs (52:28) and they wrap with quick recap of the latest chapter of Web 3 Twitter beef featuring AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky and Box Founder Aaron Levie (58:24).

Dec 27, 2021 • 59min
The 2021 TWISTY Awards: best guest, most awkward moment, best chemistry & more! | E1350
Jason hosts "The 2021 TWISTY Awards" where we give out 10 awards for top podcast moments from this year including: the most surprisingly awesome guest (02:17), best chemistry (04:48), best live moment (23:43), most awkward moment (28:51), funniest moment (36:51), best guest (45:19) and more! At the end he has a short "after-party" discussion with producers (50:58). Thank you for listening, this is our last planned episode of 2021.

Dec 22, 2021 • 1h 17min
Web3 wars & Rivian Q3 earnings with our new co-host Molly Wood! | E1349
Jason is joined by This Week in Startups' new co-host Molly Wood for a news show. First they cover why Molly joined the TWiST team (1:24), then they dig into the Web3 wars erupting on Twitter (24:00) and break down Rivian's Q3 earnings (51:45).
Producer's note: this is our only podcast this week

Dec 17, 2021 • 1h 17min
Praying For Exits: the satirist of venture capital | E1348
Praying for Exits, the top meme account in Venture Capital joins to discuss being a pseudonymous commentator (01:13), why VCs spend too much time brand building (12:37), entitlement in tech (23:47), assessing founders and companies qualitatively and quantitatively (35:46), crazy VC stories (52:10) plus so much more!

Dec 17, 2021 • 1h 8min
Melania Trump’s NFT, Reddit to go public + Twitter’s Tony Haile: news & product evolution | E1347
First Jason covers Melania Trump launching an NFT series (02:27) and Reddit just filing to go public(13:10). Then, Twitter's Tony Haile joins (24:14) to talk about selling his startup Scroll to Twitter, helping lead Twitter's product team (37:07), Twitter's roadmap and more.

Dec 16, 2021 • 1h 1min
mRNA cancer treatment, Google’s vax policy, Better.com CEO “taking time off” + Founder roundtable: PaidBack, Wearwell, SupporTrends | E1346
First Jason covers the Mayo clinic's promising new signs for mRNA cancer treatment (02:02), Google's firm vaccine policy (07:41) and the Better.com CEO stepping away after last week's meltdown (16:39). Then, Jason brings on three founders he has invested in and chats with them about their company: SupporTrends co-founder Oliver Rowen on customer insights (25:23), Wearwell co-founder and CEO Erin Houston on sustainable fashion (37:11), and PaidBack co-founder Amber Masters on budgeting and paying off debt (50:15).

Dec 15, 2021 • 48min
What Elizabeth Holmes’s prosecution missed, Nike buys NFT studio, Tether, the power of equity, ISS tourism | E1345
All news show! First Jason gives an Elizabeth Holmes trial update and reveals the key point the prosecution missed (2:12). Then he covers, Nike acquires an NFT company (14:17), $USDT becoming an official currency of a shadow government in Myanmar (31:55), how “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips made $150M on the trilogy (36:58) and the Japanese billionaire who delivered UberEats to the international space station (44:55).

Dec 14, 2021 • 1h 54min
Is Peloton undervalued? + Rad Power Bikes CEO Mike Radenbaugh + Succession recap, All-in | E1344
First, Jason breaks down the math of why Peloton might be undervalued (3:23). Then, the founder and CEO Rad Power Bikes Mike Radenbaugh joins to discuss building a massive ebike company (15:36), the most innovative features, ebike regulation and cites. Then, *spoiler alert* Jason gives his top takeaways from the Succession season three finale recap (01:05:58) and Producer Nick pitches a storyline to work Jason into season four. At the end of the show Jason and Nick discuss the strategy and behind the scenes of producing All-in (01:32:20).

Dec 10, 2021 • 1h 41min
Guess the fake startup + Founders of Jenni.AI, Wearloom, Track, Llama Life + How to hire Gen Z | E1343
First, Jason plays "Guess the Fake Startup" (1:30). Then, Jason interviews four founders he invested in (12:50):
David Park from Jenni.ai about computer copywriting assistants (18:08), Samuel Spitz from Wearloom on aggregating the resale marketplace shopping experience (28:11), Sudhama Bhatia from Track about his premium calendar client (40:35) and Marie Ng from Llama Life on building a time-based productivity tool (51:05). To wrap up the show, we have an "OK Boomer" segment where Producer Rachel talks with Gen Z marketer Erifili Gounari (01:13:25)


